By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea criticised a recent U.S-South Korea agreement to bolster the deployment of American strategic assets in the region for escalating tension to the “brink of a nuclear war,” state media KCNA said on Monday. U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit…
By Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in April, official data showed on Sunday, raising pressure on policymakers seeking to boost an economy struggling for a post-COVID lift-off amid subdued global demand and persistent property weakness. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) declined to 49.2 from 51.9 in…
By Alessandro Parodi (Reuters) – China’s Ding Liren was crowned on Sunday as the 17th world chess champion in a tense match against Russian-born Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana, Kazakhstan, in the last chapter of an odds-defying sequence of events. Thirty-year-old Ding won the rapid chess playoff by 2.5 points to 1.5, capitalizing on Nepomniachtchi’s mistakes…
By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will join Pacific Islands leaders next month for a “historic” future-oriented meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Sunday. “This is a historic first and at the same time a ‘going forward’ futuristic meeting of global…
(Reuters) – Tesla’s Model S and Model X were not available for order in some Asia-Pacific countries, including Australia, Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand, the automaker’s website showed on Sunday. Other Tesla Inc models, such as Model 3 and Model Y were available in these countries, according to the website. It was not immediately clear…
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s non-manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in April, official data showed on Sunday, a discouraging sign for policymakers counting on services consumption to offset frailty in the factory sector amid slack global demand. The official non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 56.4 versus 58.2 in March, according to data…
By Anirban Sen and Echo Wang NEW YORK (Reuters) -SoftBank Group Corp’s chip maker Arm Ltd has filed with regulators confidentially for a U.S. stock market listing, Arm said on Saturday, setting the stage for this year’s largest initial public offering. The IPO registration shows that Softbank is pressing ahead with the blockbuster offering despite…
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold a new round of talks in Washington on Sunday to try to normalise relations, Yerevan said on Saturday, after weeks of rising tensions over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armed forces from the two Caucasus neighbours have frequently exchanged fire amid disputes over the mountain enclave, which is internationally…
By Jennifer Rigby and Maggie Fick LONDON (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc has pledged to deliver critical new medicines more quickly in low-income nations, but its first such vaccine effort faces hurdles likely to delay distribution in poorer countries by several years, global health officials told Reuters. Pfizer made a commitment on more equitable access last…
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese ride hailing giant Didi Global on Saturday reported a 19% year-on-year fall in 2022 revenue, as the country’s COVID lockdowns and a regulatory crackdown took a toll. In its first annual report since it delisted from the U.S. last year, Didi said its total revenue fell to 140.79 billion yuan ($20.37…
